New Age reporting important but regrettable

The Public Protector has regrettably noted a reiteration by The New Age this morning, in which the newspaper announces that it stands by its story titled “Cele, departments snub Public Protector deadline”, which was published on Wednesday this week.

The Public Protector would like to restate that at no point during her interview with the newspaper did she state or imply that any of the state organs concerned had snubbed her deadline or that she was “clearly disappointed” as it is claimed in the original story.

Asked whether she had received comments on 3 January, the Public Protector only confirmed that none of the state organs concerned had submitted but explained that one (Public Works) had promised to submit on that same day and that the others had been granted extensions on request.

Even though the newspaper reports that it quoted a SAPS spokesperson, who acknowledged that their report was late, it should be noted that “late” is not the same thing as “snubbing”.

“It is regrettable that The News Age would want to stand by their story, which is obviously, in part, factually incorrect. It is also unfortunate that things have to go this way as we sincerely appreciate the work that The New Age is doing. Going forward, we will have to find a way to verify facts before they are published as this has a negative effect on our integrity as a constitutional institution,” said the Public Protector.

Issued by:

Oupa Segalwe
Manager: Outreach, Education and Communications
Public Protector South Africa
072 264 3273
012 366 7035
oupas@pprotect.org